Privacy Policy

Data Protection, Privacy and Cookies

This page explains how The Margate School (TMS) collects and uses personal data, why we collect it, how it is used, and what processes are in place in respect of personal information.

The Margate School (TMS) processes the personal data of staff, students and other individuals who come into contact with TMS. This information is gathered in order to enable the provision of education and other associated functions. In addition, TMS may be required by law to collect, use and share certain information.

TMS is registered as a Data Controller, with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Details are available on the ICO website

TMS registration number: ZA546119

Data Protection Principles

We will comply with data protection law. This says that the personal information we hold about you must be:

1. Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.

2. Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.

3. Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.

4. Accurate and kept up to date.

5. Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.

6. Kept securely.

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

There are “special categories” of more sensitive personal data which require a higher level of protection.

How we use particularly sensitive personal data

“Special categories” of particularly sensitive personal information require higher levels of protection. We need to have further justification for collecting, storing and using this type of personal information. We may process special categories of personal information in the following circumstances:

1. In limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent.

2. Where we need to carry out our legal obligations and in line with our Data Protection Policy.

3. Where it is needed in the public interest, such as for equal opportunities monitoring and in line with our Data Protection Policy.

4. Where it is needed as part of your case or to provide advice and assistance about an employee, worker, self-employed person or other in your business or organisation.

Less commonly, we may process this type of information where it is needed in relation to legal claims or where it is needed to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the information public.

1. Visitors to our Websites

The TMS website collects data from website visitors for specific purposes that relate to legitimate interests concerning TMS' core activity, as an independent liberal art school in Margate.

TMS may also use ‘cookies’ on its website. A cookie is a small text file that is sent from a web server to your browser and may be stored on your computer, designed to collect data for statistical purposes.

TMS website cookies do not collect any identifiable personal information, but can automatically collect data based on visitor browser settings and context (e.g. location, device, browser, preferences) and the use of our website. You can configure your own browser or social media platforms to control how much of your data is available through cookies.

How will we use the data?

for analytics purposes – to count the number of unique visits to a page or click patterns, and understand the context in which visitors navigate through the website, so that we can improve the content and navigation
to provide visitors with a tailored and appropriate experience, when they return to a website
to match profiling data from third parties, to improve our services to users
to report statistics internally and to regulatory authorities on request
to measure website performance
where such storage or access is strictly necessary for the provision of a service requested by the subscriber, visitor or user.

Links to other websites

The TMS website contains links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites. We encourage our visitors to be aware when they leave our website, and to read the privacy arrangements of other sites that collect or use personal data.

2. Mailing-list Subscribers

Subscribers to newsletters or email lists may be contacted when we promote programmes of study or events that may be of interest. Anyone may at any time request us to stop using their personal data for direct marketing purposes via the opt out included in all emails or by contacting: info@themargateschool.com

3. Applicants

By submitting an enquiry, or booking or application, you are consenting to your data being held by The Margate School. Your data will be used for the purposes of dealing with your enquiry, and to send you relevant information about TMS.

If you wish to remove yourself from the TMS database please email info@themargateschool.com

What personal information do we hold?

We ask applicants for the academic Masters Programmes, short courses, studio spaces and membership to provide us with all or some of the following data during the application process:

Name
Email

Phone number
Address
Date of birth
Special needs
Qualification
Statement of intent
Portfolio of work
Academic progress
How you heard about us

This information is stored securely via Google Docs with access restricted to only those staff who require access for the purposes of fulfilling the reason why the information was collected. See also section 4. Students.

What do we use this information for?

The information is used predominantly to support us in considering your application. Specifically, the information is used to:

For the Masters Programmes:

consider whether you are likely to have the capacity to successfully complete the programme you have applied to, in accordance with our Admissions Policy
enable us to organise interviews and communicate with you about your application to TMS
assess your likely fee and visa status, so that we can advise you on how to proceed if you are made an offer to a programme of TMS
assist with the issue of Confirmations of Acceptance for Study (CAS) documents to students requiring a Tier 4 student visa to enter the UK.

We also use the information to monitor and assess our application and student recruitment processes, ensuring that we can reassure applicants and stakeholders that our processes are entirely merit based, and that there are no barriers that discriminate on the basis of protected or other non-academic characteristics. We also use information to inform and improve activities that enable greater access to TMS for all potential students.

Finally, we use this information to prepare your student record should you accept your offer, so that we are able to register and induct you speedily to TMS at the start of your programme of study.

For all other provision we utilise the data for internal monitoring and business development, quality assurance and customer services purposes.

Change of purpose

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal information without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

Who do we share this information with?

We may transfer your data to third parties acting on our behalf for further processing in line with the purpose for which the data was originally collected. This covers areas such as service delivery, accreditation, assessment and academic award purposes, marketing, data management and technical support.

Our contracted third parties can and will only use personal data for the agreed purpose and will not sell your personal data to other third parties or disclose your personal data to other third parties unless it is required by law or stated in this Privacy Notice.

Sometimes we need to transfer personal data to third parties outside of the UK. For example: processing email communications through international servers so that we can deliver useful communications to clients.

What happens if I do not provide this information?

If we do not receive the information that we request during the application process then we reserve the right not to consider your application for Masters Programmes.

For short courses we may not be able to communicate with you.

For studio spaces we will not be able to enter into a rental agreement.

For memberships we will not be able to accept you as a member.

How long do we keep this information?

We only retain this information for as long as is necessary to fulfil contractual obligations and provide the agreed service to you. With your consent we will retain your information for marketing purposes for a period of 12 months following the completion of the provision of services.

4. Students

As a prospective or enrolled student, TMS will collect and use data relating to personal details, family and social circumstances, education and training records, employment information, financial details, and services provided. In addition, we may collect and use special category data about you such as information relating to your ethnicity, religion, disability or medical condition for specific purposes.

The principle purpose for processing your personal data is for us to deliver educational content and to facilitate your education.

5. Your Rights

Some of your Data Subject Rights are:

Right of Access

You can ask us for details of the personal data we hold about you at any time. You can request this via email or in writing to the contact details and address below.

Once we receive your written request and proof of identity, we will provide you with details of the personal data we hold about you within one month (which can be extended in certain circumstances).

You also have the right to challenge the data we hold about you and, where appropriate, have it erased, rectified, restricted or objected.

Your right to opt out

At any point, you have the right to opt out of communications with us in the following way:

Email: You can request to be opted out of emails by replying to them, phoning or writing to us. Plus, there is an option to opt out included in all our marketing emails.
Text: There is an option to opt out of texts within the SMS message. Plus, you can request to be opted out by phoning, emailing or writing to us.
Telephone calls: You can request to be opted out of receiving telephone calls by phoning, emailing or writing to us.
Letters: You can request to be opted out of receiving letters by phoning, emailing or writing to us.

Your Data Subject Rights also include:

Right to restriction of processing: you can restrict the processing of your personal data.
Right to data portability: you can electronically move, copy or transfer your personal information in a standard form.
Right to object: you can object to the processing of your personal data.
Rights with regards to automated individual decision making, including profiling.

Data Retention

We will only retain data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you. Once you are no longer a client we will retain and securely destroy your personal information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and our data retention policy.

We will review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations. We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us.

For more information on your Data Subject Rights please visit ico.org.uk

We may change the privacy notice from time to time. This may be necessary, for example if the law changes, or if we change our services in a way that affects personal data protection.

Further Information

This is the website of The Margate School Ltd.

Our registered office is:

The Margate School Ltd

17 Roxburgh Road

Westgate-on-Sea

Kent CT8 8RX

Complaints relating to the handling of Personal Data may be referred to us at: uwe@themargateschool.com or

The Margate School

17-18 The Parade
Margate, Kent CT9 1EY

You may also contact the Information Commissioner at:

Wycliﬀe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
www.ico.gov.uk